Creoles Flashcards
How do Creoles form?
When a Pidgin language is spoken as a main language and it has native speakers
What does the lexis and grammar of Creoles do?
Expand to suit the needs of its users
What is particular about different Creoles’ grammar?
They have their own grammatical rules
e.g. Jamaican creole - “mi” used as 1st person pronoun instead of “I”
What are other grammatical features of Jamaican Creole?
no ‘s’ ending to mark plurals
multiple negatives
no verb ending to indicate past tense, the base word is used instead (he go last week)
omission of auxiliary verbs (me not = I am not)
“fi” used instead of “to”
What does the term “acrolet” mean?
The most prestigious variety of a creole language and is the most similar to the language which the creole steamed from.
e.g. Standard English with a Jamaican accent
What does the term “basilect” mean?
The “deepest” creole, has least in common with the “parent language” and is most like the original Pidgin
What does the term “mesolect” mean?
The different varieties of Creole which lie between acrolets and basilects
The Creole Continuum
Basilect -> Mesolect -> Acrolet
What factor also determines the variety of the creole you use?
Your social class. Usually people of a higher social class (although not normally above upper middle class) would speak in a variety closer to acrolet and people of a lower social class would speak a variety closer to basilect
What may happen to the variety of creole you speak in?
Depending on who you are talking to you may move about along the continuum to accommodate them
What is a Post Creole scenario?
Jamaican Creole -> London Jamaican -> MEYD/MCLE
What were general attitudes towards Pidgins and Creoles?
Regarded as “corrupt, imperfect varieties of other languages”
Speakers were socially, culturally and intellectually deficient
What are now the general attitudes towards Pidgins and Creoles?
Efficient, functional systems of communication
Have their own rules and structures
Can the “lects” - basilect, acrolect mesolect be used to describe other variations?
Yes. They only refer to prestige and not creoles in general
